Ivory Coast encouraging gold mining

2011-AUG-09

Experts have confirmed that Ivory Coast’s government are ready to facilitate big increases in the country’s gold mining activities. Energy and mining minister Adama Toungara stated that in the past, bureaucratic inefficiency had prevented miners from operating, but he has affirmed that the new Ivorian government intends to speed up the approval process for awarding mining certificates. Providing all goes according to plan, Ivory Coast’s annual mining production is expected to double from seven metric tons to 13 metric tons per year by 2013.

Many experts believe that Ivory Coast could turn into an important African gold mining country, if the approval process for new mining operations is sped up. A higher Ivorian gold production would surely spell good news for the global gold market, since gold production has been in decline for ten consecutive years. Toungara added that only 30 mining permits had been obtained in the last ten years, with requests reaching a total number of 170.

While the country’s gold production is expected to almost double to 13 metric tons by 2013, the government aims to increase it to 20 metric tons per year by 2020 – a tripling of Ivory Coast’s gold output within just one decade. The country – along with other African nations – also needs to work on guaranteeing consistent electricity generation if it hopes to achieve these ambitious production goals. Power disruptions have hurt African gold mining companies’ ability to capitalise on high gold prices. To remedy this, Ivory Coast intends to invest $500 million on upgrading the country’s most important gas-fired power station.

In parallel to the intended increase in Ivory Coast’s gold output, the government also plans to encourage increases in oil and gas production. Taxation on the oil and gas industry is the government’s second most important source of revenue after import taxes. Ivory Coast’s oil production reached 35,000 barrels a day in 2010 – a significant setback compared with an average output of 50,000 barrels per day in previous years. Ivorian oil production has however recovered back to 40,000 barrels a day. Years of underinvestment could only be corrected if the government instantly reacted by investing in Ivorian infrastructure soon.